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Glite Dictionary
to choke out

to choke out

1 7.4
Say something with great difficulty because you feel upset or nervous
  • phrasal verb
  • /tʃoʊk aʊt/
translation icon : sacar con dificultad
  • She tried to ask me some questions over dinner, but it was all I could do to choke out the smallest yes or no.
  • choked out the words
  • managed to choke out
  • choked out a sob

Examples

  • "He's upset that Thomas was revealed as a woman," I choked out.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • I finally choked out "Jennifer," and he said, "Jennifer, I'm Mike."

    Blog text (25)

  • "Yes," Mark managed to choke out.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • "Not Heather?" she choked out.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The dying Mexican who asked for water managed to choke out, "The door... there are wolves."

    Blog text (20)

  • Finally, Cory choked out the words, "All right."

    Fiction book (1996)

  • He answered himself, sounding so sweet that I could only manage to choke out, "Hello," before my tears began to flow.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Luke choked out the words, "What if I want to drink after you?" and then he drank dutifully a swallow or two of the brandy.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • He trembled and choked out a few unintelligible words of gratitude, then just shook my unresponsive hand with his ink-stained flippers and scurried away.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • With tears in her eyes, she managed to choke out, "I can't believe this is happening."

Synonyms

to mumble
vsto choke out
103 4.9

To speak in a low, unclear voice that is hard to understand

is difficult to say because of emotion or nervousness rather than quiet unclear speech
to stammer
vsto choke out
26 4.8

To speak with short pauses and repeated sounds that make words hard to understand

is caused by strong emotion or nerves rather than involuntary speech breaks
to splutter
vsto choke out
4 7.5

To speak in short, broken sounds when angry or shocked

is about forced difficulty speaking from emotion or nerves rather than explosive noise
to falter
vsto choke out
4 5.4

To speak in a weak, broken voice because of strong feeling

involves saying something with much greater difficulty from emotion or nerves
to stumble over one's words
vsto choke out
  • Informal
1 5.6

To speak with small pauses and mistakes because you are nervous

is about intense difficulty speaking because of strong emotion or nervousness
to blubber out
vsto choke out
  • Informal
8.6

To say something while crying so much you can hardly speak

is hard to say from strong emotion or nervousness rather than only crying

Antonyms

to speak clearly
7 1.0

Say words so other people can easily understand you

How Difficult

to choke out
1 7.4
mutter
18 4.4
to say
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

choke out infinitive
choked out past
choked out past participle
choking out present participle
chokes out third person singular

Morphology

choke + out

The phrase combines a figurative sense of 'choke' (to struggle or be constricted) with the particle 'out' that suggests emission or coming forth, so the overall idea of forcing words out is partially derivable from the parts. However, the metaphorical extension and particle behavior are not fully predictable for an average B1 learner (especially given 'out' is ambiguous here), so prior exposure is typically required to grasp the exact meaning.

Etymology

Choke out shows the image of a person whose throat feels tight so they must force words out with great effort. So, choke out means 'to say something with great difficulty, often because of strong emotion or nervousness'.